Makes you wanna go all Fight Club and blow up some databases.

"Budgens, a London supermarket chain, secretly records biometric facial photos of people who buy cigarettes and alcohol and compares it to a database of known underage buyers, and they're hoping to link their database with other grocery chains around the country. This means that just bringing a bottle up to the till means that your likeness and details will be added to a nationwide database, recording your movements and purchasing habits.

They'll probably be forced to drop the 'secrecy' bit in the end, but that will not bring an end to the practice. Instead, they'll just put a sign up next to the till saying, 'By buying alcohol here, you agree that we can violate your privacy and share your information with anyone we feel like.' After all, that's what they do with the CCTV signs in London already."